Mác 8

Seven loaves in a deserted place

¹During those days a large crowd had gathered again, and there was no food for them. So Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, ²“My heart goes out to these people. They have been with me for three days now, and they have nothing left to eat. ³Send them home without food, and they will collapse on the road. Some of them have traveled a long way.” ⁴His disciples replied, “Out here in this empty country, where could anyone find bread enough to fill all these people?” ⁵He asked them, “How many loaves have you got?” “Seven,” they answered. ⁶He had the crowd sit on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke them, and kept handing them to his disciples to pass around, and they served them to the crowd. ⁷They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and told the disciples to hand those out too. ⁸Everyone ate and had plenty. Then they collected the leftover pieces, enough to fill seven large baskets. ⁹There were about 4,000 people. Then he sent them on their way. ¹⁰At once he boarded the boat with his disciples and came to the area of Dalmanutha.^a

No sign for this generation

¹¹The Pharisees came out and started to dispute with him. They demanded a sign from heaven, to put him to the test. ¹²He groaned from deep within and said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? Truly I tell you, this generation will be given no sign at all.”^{b 13}Leaving them, he got into the boat again and went off to the far shore.

Do you still not understand?

¹⁴Now the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. They had just one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵He gave them a warning: “Be careful! Watch out for the Pharisees’ yeast and Herod’s yeast.” ¹⁶They began to talk it over among themselves: they had no bread. ¹⁷Jesus knew what they were saying, and he said, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see it or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? ¹⁸You have eyes; can you not see? You have ears; can you not hear? Do you not remember? ¹⁹When I broke five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets of leftover pieces did you gather?” “Twelve,” they told him. ²⁰“And when I broke seven loaves for the 4,000, how many large baskets of pieces did you gather?” “Seven,” they said. ²¹He said to them, “And you still do not understand?” ²²They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and pleaded with him to touch him. ²³He took hold of the blind man’s hand and took him outside the village. Then he spat on the man’s eyes, laid his hands on him, and asked, “Can you see anything?” ²⁴The man looked up and said, “I see people, but to me they are like trees moving about.” ²⁵Then Jesus laid his hands on the man’s eyes once more. The man looked hard, his sight came back, and he could see everything clearly. ²⁶Jesus sent him off home, telling him, “Do not even set foot in the village.”^c

You are Christ

²⁷Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of the Caesarea Philippi area. As they went, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” ²⁸They answered, “Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹“And you,” he asked them, “who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are Christ.” ³⁰He gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.

The Son of Man must suffer

³¹He then began teaching them that the Son of Man had to undergo great suffering, be rejected by elders, chief priests and scribes, be put to death, and rise again after three days. ³²He spoke about this quite plainly. Peter took him to one side and began to rebuke him. ³³But Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, and he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “Your mind is not on what God cares about, but on what people care about.”^d

Take up your cross

³⁴Then he called the crowd over, together with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone desires to come after me, they must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. ³⁵Anyone set on keeping their life safe will lose it, and anyone who loses their life because of me and the gospel will save it.^{e 36}What does anyone gain by winning the whole world, if it costs them their life?^{f 37}What could anyone give to buy their life back? ³⁸Whoever is ashamed of me and of what I say, here among this adulterous, sinful generation, the Son of Man will in turn be ashamed of them, when he comes with the holy angels in the glory of his Father.”